Some weekends call for getting out of the city. These are the trips we'd load the car for: wildlife parks, working farms, castles, old forest and Baltic beaches, all close enough to go and come home the same day. Each card says what the kids do once you park. Here's what we checked, from the giraffes at Kolmården to the snorkel trail at Björnö.
Kolmården is a wildlife park and theme park in one, covering 1.5 square kilometers south of Stockholm. Kids ride the Safari gondola above lions and giraffes, see big cats in Tiger World, and watch the dolphin show HOPE and the birds-of-prey show Wings.
The World of Bamse has a honeypot merry-go-round for the youngest, while older kids can try Wildfire, a wooden roller coaster that hits 115 kph.
Skokloster Castle is a Baroque castle built in 1654-1676 for Count Carl Gustaf Wrangel on Lake Mälaren, and it still holds the collections of the families who lived there. Kids can hunt for gleaming swords in the ground-floor exhibition and look for the fruit in Arcimboldo's Vertumnus portrait.
Beside the castle, the Paradise Playground has a gazebo, a wooden horse-drawn tram and a balance course of giant tools.
Siggesta Gård is a farm on Värmdö with a hotel, restaurants and forest all around. Kids can meet the alpacas, walk the Swamp Trolls' Path, a fairytale trail with its own farm troll, and swim at the natural beach after a forest walk.
Paid extras include an 18-hole adventure golf course whose holes are miniatures of Värmdö buildings, plus soccer golf, disc golf and a forest obstacle course.
Tyresta protects the largest old-growth forest south of the Dalälven River: centuries-old pines, tall spruce, smooth bedrock and small forest lakes. Trails run from walks under an hour to weekend hikes, and several suit children.
At the main entrance, Tyresta by is an 18th-century farmyard with farm animals and a small country shop. Kids can walk through the area burned in the 1999 wildfire and see the forest growing back.
Björnö is a nature reserve at the far tip of Ingarö, and Torpesand's sandy beach is an easy walk from the parking lot. Kids can swim from the sand or the smooth rocks and follow a marked snorkel trail to see life under the Baltic.
Marked trails run through forest and meadows to a lookout tower over the archipelago, with fire pits and tent sites along the way.
Hågelby 4H Farm is a small farm run by the local 4H club inside Hågelbyparken. Horses, sheep, goats, pigs, hens, rabbits and cats live here, and families can walk the park paths and look into the paddocks without booking. Kids can pet the animals that come up to the fence, and the park also has a playground. On cold days the hens and pigs stay in the henhouse and stable.
Gripsholm Castle was built in the 16th century for King Gustav Vasa, in Mariefred by Lake Mälaren. Inside are dungeons, armories, cannons, a stuffed lion known as Leo, and Gustav III's 18th-century theater in one of the round towers.
The Swedish State Portrait Collection fills the winding corridors. Kids pick up a map at the front desk for a picture hunt and claim a reward at the end.
A themed playground in Vilundaparken built around the factories that once filled Väsby. Kids crawl inside a giant Hasselblad camera, slide out of a Volvo Amazon door handle, and play firefighter on the fire truck or mechanic in the car workshop. A play farm, a school and a Konsum shop round it out.
Artist and set designer Tor Svae, who made themed spaces at Junibacken, designed it.
Some weekends call for getting out of the city. These are the trips we'd load the car for: wildlife parks, working farms, castles, old forest and Baltic beaches, all close enough to go and come home the same day. Each card says what the kids do once you park. Here's what we checked, from the giraffes at Kolmården to the snorkel trail at Björnö.
Kolmården is a wildlife park and theme park in one, covering 1.5 square kilometers south of Stockholm. Kids ride the Safari gondola above lions and giraffes, see big cats in Tiger World, and watch the dolphin show HOPE and the birds-of-prey show Wings.
The World of Bamse has a honeypot merry-go-round for the youngest, while older kids can try Wildfire, a wooden roller coaster that hits 115 kph.
Skokloster Castle is a Baroque castle built in 1654-1676 for Count Carl Gustaf Wrangel on Lake Mälaren, and it still holds the collections of the families who lived there. Kids can hunt for gleaming swords in the ground-floor exhibition and look for the fruit in Arcimboldo's Vertumnus portrait.
Beside the castle, the Paradise Playground has a gazebo, a wooden horse-drawn tram and a balance course of giant tools.
Siggesta Gård is a farm on Värmdö with a hotel, restaurants and forest all around. Kids can meet the alpacas, walk the Swamp Trolls' Path, a fairytale trail with its own farm troll, and swim at the natural beach after a forest walk.
Paid extras include an 18-hole adventure golf course whose holes are miniatures of Värmdö buildings, plus soccer golf, disc golf and a forest obstacle course.
Tyresta protects the largest old-growth forest south of the Dalälven River: centuries-old pines, tall spruce, smooth bedrock and small forest lakes. Trails run from walks under an hour to weekend hikes, and several suit children.
At the main entrance, Tyresta by is an 18th-century farmyard with farm animals and a small country shop. Kids can walk through the area burned in the 1999 wildfire and see the forest growing back.
Björnö is a nature reserve at the far tip of Ingarö, and Torpesand's sandy beach is an easy walk from the parking lot. Kids can swim from the sand or the smooth rocks and follow a marked snorkel trail to see life under the Baltic.
Marked trails run through forest and meadows to a lookout tower over the archipelago, with fire pits and tent sites along the way.
Hågelby 4H Farm is a small farm run by the local 4H club inside Hågelbyparken. Horses, sheep, goats, pigs, hens, rabbits and cats live here, and families can walk the park paths and look into the paddocks without booking. Kids can pet the animals that come up to the fence, and the park also has a playground. On cold days the hens and pigs stay in the henhouse and stable.
Gripsholm Castle was built in the 16th century for King Gustav Vasa, in Mariefred by Lake Mälaren. Inside are dungeons, armories, cannons, a stuffed lion known as Leo, and Gustav III's 18th-century theater in one of the round towers.
The Swedish State Portrait Collection fills the winding corridors. Kids pick up a map at the front desk for a picture hunt and claim a reward at the end.
A themed playground in Vilundaparken built around the factories that once filled Väsby. Kids crawl inside a giant Hasselblad camera, slide out of a Volvo Amazon door handle, and play firefighter on the fire truck or mechanic in the car workshop. A play farm, a school and a Konsum shop round it out.
Artist and set designer Tor Svae, who made themed spaces at Junibacken, designed it.
